William Swan Garvin


William Swan Garvin was a western Pennsylvania newspaper proprietor who is most widely known for his term as a Jacksonian and Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Early years

Garvin was born in Mercer, Pennsylvania. At 13, he became an apprentice for Mercer County's Western Press, a Democratic newspaper.

Career

After journeying as a newspaper printer, in 1830 he returned to the Western Press as its proprietor, a position he held off and on for the rest of his life.
Garvin was postmaster of Mercer from 1837 to 1841.
Garvin was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-ninth Congress. He served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings during that session.
He also served as a flour inspector in Pittsburgh and was again appointed postmaster of Mercer in 1867 and served until 1869.
Garvin died on February 20, 1883, and was buried in Mercer Citizens’ Cemetery.